Secrets and Lies
by tigger0625
Summary: What if Brooke hadnt left Lucas' hotel room that night in New York? What if she'd gotten pregnant but didnt tell anyone? So when she shows up in Tree Hill to meet Payton she brings along her mini-me. I know this isnt a great summary, more inside
1. Chapter 1

Ok so this is my first One Tree Hill Fanfic, please read and review honestly. I might be slow with the updates I have a lot going on but I love to write and do it whenever I have a free moment, or moments when I should be doing more constructive things like sleep lol. Thanks for taking the time to read.

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"I've been calling you all night. Maybe teen marriage is all the rage in Hicksville, North Carolina, but I swear if you marry this boy I am going to have annulment papers drawn up so fast…" Victoria jumped up yelling the minute Brooke walked through the door.

"Mom, relax, it was just a joke."

"Oh, thank god. You have far too much to lose Brooke."

"And Lucas Scott was the one boy I might have lost it for." She whispered eyes filling.

"You should be focusing on the company, not boys with rings."

If her mom only knew what had transpired between her and Lucas tonight, she would be even angrier.

Brooke whirled around to face her mother "But what about love, Mom? Isn't that the key?"

"In case you've forgotten, it's called Clothes over Bros." Victoria spat back at her.

Brooke realized two things in the split second it took for her brain to register the words coming out of Victoria's mouth.

One she had never really gotten over Lucas Scott, and two, as much as she thought she'd changed and grown since high school she was still the heartbroken school girl and the best fix for that was to throw herself into Clothes over Bro's.

"Right, Okay, I'm in. The high end line, the magazine, I'm ready to take it to the next level."

"Oh, I am so glad to hear you say that. I promise you Darling, we are going to have everything we've ever wanted. Oh and by the way, call me Victoria. That whole mom thing just makes me sound too old."

Brooke was sitting at her small breakfast table looking over a few new designs the next morning when her private cell rang. Glancing down at the screen her heart did a little flip when she read Lucas' name. She hesitated over the answer key before quickly ignoring the call. She couldn't go down that road, not now, not again. It had been great to see him last night; to run around the city pretending that he really had chosen her. However, she knew she wasn't strong enough to fight her heart on him. All it took for her to lose control was when he told her he was lost without Payton.

Brooke knew that in high school she was always trying to fix him, to ease the pain he seemed to carry around on his shoulders. She'd stood there in front of him, his blue eyes pleading with her to make it better, to help him put the pieces of his broken heart back together. Then his mouth was on hers, and the warning bells went off in her head telling her that he didn't really love her, that he was using her to try and erase Payton from his heart. She pulled away from him, but when she looked into his eyes and saw the hurt and the vulnerability laying just under the surface. Brooke closed her eyes trying to regain control and the willpower to walk away from him right there. Instead she felt Luke stand up and pulled her slowly and gently into his arms, almost as if he was asking for her permission.

Her chin tilted up and she gazed into his face, "Luke" her voice came out thick with the desire she'd tried to hide. Lucas let out a groan and covered her mouth with his, his fingers digging into the small of her back as he pulled her tightly against him. Brooke made the decision in that moment to help him the only way she knew how. Shutting down her mind she forced her heart to only feel tonight, right now. Each kiss, each touch, how right his body felt against hers. How safe she always felt when she was in his arms, and nothing more, her mind became numb.

When it was done Luke pulled her into his side and wrapped his arms around her."Brooke Davis you are always saving me." And with those words he fell asleep, and Brooke lay there listening to his heart beat a painfully familiar rhythm. When the tears threatened to fall she eased out of his arms and quickly dressed, she needed to get out of this hotel now or she might never leave.

Brooke stared at the phone in her hand; it was time to move on for good, to remove Lucas Scott from her heart once and for all!

"Hey this is Brooke, you know what to do" Lucas didn't want to talk to her voicemail, he couldn't believe he'd done it again. He thought the days of him hurting her were over or else he would have never agreed to go out drinking with her last night. What had he done?

_**Two Months later….**_

Brooke rolled over in bed pulling the blankets over her head. She'd never had trouble getting up in the mornings but lately she could sleep all day and still be tired. But after taking the last few days off fight this flu or whatever it was, Victoria would flip if she didn't show up today.

As soon as her feet hit the floor though Brooke had to make a mad dash to the bathroom, what was wrong with her? Brooke Davis did not get sick! Standing at the sink looking at her pale face in the mirror her eyes fell on the snapshot of her Haley, Nathan, Payton, Lucas and Mouth just a few days before graduation. She let her gaze roam over each face remembering the day they'd taken it. When her eyes met Lucas, Brooke's breath caught in her throat.

"No way! This cannot he happening again!"

Brooke dressed quickly grabbing a scarf and large dark sunglasses; she needed to get this over with now. She had to be wrong she was wrong before, everything would be fine. An hour later Brooke was standing back in front of the mirror staring at the photo pinned there, the pregnancy test lay on the counter below. Two pink lines glaring back at her, what was she going to do now? Victoria was going to go nuts! Then another thought wiggled its way into her mind, a baby someone to love and that would love her back always unconditionally. Almost in that same instant her arms began to ache to hold the little one already growing inside her.

_**Almost Two years later….**_

"Hey Angel, how are you this morning? Today's your first birthday, are you excited about our trip?" Brooke reached into the ornate crib and lifted the little girl up to rub noses. "You make mommy so happy, you know that?" The giggle she got as a response was enough warm Brooke's heart and chase away the concerns today held. After talking to Payton on the phone last night she'd changed their tickets to fly back to Tree Hill instead, she was going home. Payton still didn't know about Alexis, Brooke knew that it would be a shock when she came to pick her up at the airport but it just wasn't something she wanted to try and tell her friend over the phone. She had made a choice a long time ago that No one needed to know what had happened between her and Lucas that night. Surely it had been long enough that he wouldn't remember the dates to be able to put it all together. And no one else knew about him coming to see her. So her secret should be safe, right?

The plane ride was short and Alexis slept the whole flight, her mom however was restless and could barely sit still. When the cabin doors opened Brooke gathered her sleeping child in her arms and slung the designer diaper bag over her shoulder, all but bolting off the plane. She claimed her stroller and got Lexie situated in it before making her way to baggage claim and where she knew Payton would be waiting for her. When the crowed parted and Brooke finally made eye contact with her friend Payton's face lit up and she ran up to throw her arms around the girl that was like a sister to her. The two pulled apart and Brooke watched as Payton took in the stroller and the sleeping baby inside.

"Brooke…is she…I mean is she yours?"

"Of course she is, Auntie Payton meet Alexis Jane Davis." Brooke couldn't help but laugh at the shocked expression on her friends face.

"Wow Brooke she's beautiful. Why didn't you call me? Where's her dad? _Who's_ her dad?" Payton fired questions at her one right behind the other.

Brooke laughed out loud this time, "I promise will tell you all about it but let's get out of here first"

"Okay" Payton slung an arm around Brooke's shoulders, "I missed you Brooke Davis"

"So he just doesn't want to have anything to do with you or the baby?" There was fire in Payton's eyes. The three of them had just settled into the hotel, Payton had already gotten adjoining rooms for them.

"Pretty much" Brooke responded pulling the soft blanket up over Lexie. She hated lying, especially to her best friend but there was no way she could tell her that Alexis father was the man that Payton was obviously still in love with. They couldn't survive this drama again and Brooke needed her friend. There was a quiet as the two of them seemed to both be lost in thought and maybe a few painful memories.

"I saw Lucas tonight, he with someone else. He wouldn't even hug me." Payton broke into Brookes thoughts.

"Really? I'm sorry to hear that Payt, but you said you weren't coming back here for him right?"

"Right, no I came back because I missed home and I missed who I was, and I missed you."

"You ready for this? You know they are going to flip when they see the little one… in a good way though."

"Ready as I'm going to get." Brooke's knuckles turned white from gripping the steering wheel so tightly.

"Yeah" Payton glanced back at the sleeping baby in the back seat with her corn silk white blonde hair. "They will all be happy for you Brooke, just upset that you didn't let us all share this with you before now. I mean look at her she's beautiful, and soooo low maintenance." Payton quipped in her typical semi-sarcastic tone.

"She's pretty laid back most of the time, but last night was the first time she's spent the night away from her bed, she's adjusting to being in a strange place with strange people. You cant judge her by last night."

"I'm joking, I remember how it was some nights when Jake would bring Jenny and spend the night at my house back when we were in school."

"Speaking of the allusive Jake Jegalski , have you heard from him since your surprise visit to Savannah right before Nathan and Haley's wedding?"

"Nope I thought about calling him a few times but I figured it would just complicate things you know? I mean he's the one who sent me running back to Lucas way back then so what's the point? He doesn't want me either." The last part of Payton's tirade came out more of a whispered plea for someone to disagree with her, and Brooke wasn't up for taking that bait right now.

"Well don't look now but isn't that our ex-lover boy standing there with Nathan?"

"Oh God"

Hey Payt you can do this…I promise" But even as she said the words the reality of what was about to happened crashed down over her. Everything in her screamed to turn the car around and leave, get as far away as fast as possible. But it was too late for that both boys had already seen them, Lucas Scott was about to unknowingly meet his daughter.

"Hey guys! What are you doing here? Did Haley know you were coming?" Nathan hugged both of them . Brooke ignored Lucas and quickly turned to get Alexis out of her car seat. She held her breath bracing for whatever reaction she was about to receive.

Nothing could have prepared her for the look on Lucas' face when his gaze fell on the sleepy eyed baby in her arms. Oh god he knew! Brooke pleaded with her eyes for him to wait to have this conversation when they were alone. She glanced quickly from him to Payton and back hoping that he would get the message she was sending.

"Luke how are you? I haven't seen you in forever, did you ever get your book published hoping he would get the hint that Payton didn't know about their little rendezvous in New York.

"Yeah, we'll talk about all that later." He reached out a hand almost in a trance to brush Lexie's cheek. "Hey little girl, what's your name?"

"This _Uncle Lucas_ and Uncle Nathan, is Alexis Jane _Davis_" Brooke over emphasized the Uncle Lucas and that Lexie had her last name. Trying everything she could to steer him in a different train of thought.

"Well hello sweetheart, I know your Aunt Haley is going to want to meet you, come on lets go inside and find her." Nathan said taking Alexis out of Brookes arms and leading them into the house.

As they walked in the front door Lucas gripped her arm pulling her away from the others, "Brooke, is she…is she mine?"

Brooke's breath caught in her throat, she hadn't expected him to ask her point blank, "Luke… no she's not."

"But then who…?"

"No one, hey let's talk about this later ok. No point in causing Payton any more pain than we already have." Without waiting for him to respond she followed Payton and Nathan into the living room. Taking a deep breath and swallowing back the tears that were fighting to run down her face. She's known it was going to be hard to lie to him but this was going to be torture.


	2. Chapter 2

**_Ok I forgot this on my last chapter, I in no way own OTH or any of the characters. I love the show and just like exploring different ways the show could have gone. Now that that is out of the way...I'm sorry this chapter is a little shorter that I usually like to end with but the flow seemed to end where it did so I thought I'd go ahead and post it. Thank you for the reviews keep them coming it inspires me to update faster when I know that there is someone waiting anxiously to read it. lol Also I am open for suggestions so send them as well. Thanks for reading hope you like it :)_**

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"Oh Brooke she's an Angel! But I'm still mad that you didn't tell me you were going to have a baby!" Haley wrapped one around Brooke's neck; the other was filled with Lexie.

"I know I just… I don't know, there's really no excuse, but we're here now so everyone can get to know one another." Brooke smiled and tapped Lexie's nose with her finger.

"Well how long are you guys staying?" Nathan was propped against the counter.

"Um I'm not sure, I mean you guys know what my childhood was like, I just want more than that for Alexis. Already sometimes I think she likes her nanny better than me because I have to leave her so much. I'm really thinking about moving back here so that I can raise her the way I wish my mother had raised me. Besides all of our 'family' is here, isn't that right angel?"

"I understand that Brooke that's the reason why we are still here with Jamie, we wanted him to have everything we had and more. What about you Payton you going back to L.A. or are you back for good too?" Haley turned to face Payton.

"Actually I am home for good; things just were working out for me out there the way I wanted. I want to be more than the coffee girl and I don't want to have to compromise my beliefs to get there."

"Momma Momma, guess what?!" A flying blur ran through the kitchen, pulling up short when he saw that Haley was holding a child other than him. "Who's that?"

"Hey little man" Brooke knelt down to be eye level with Jamie.

"Aunt Brooke!" Jamie threw his arms around her neck knocking her off balance.

"Whoa there little man." Brooke laughed and accepted Lucas' hand up off the floor.

Lucas reached a hand out to help her up off the floor and for a second Brooke came within inches of his face. Her heart stopped, she was sure that he could see all the way into her soul with those eyes.

"Luke" Brooke tried to push out more words but she couldn't get her brain to form a sentence. Before she got any farther his phone rang.

"Its Lindsey. I gotta go, we will talk later tonight."

Brooke just nodded; wow she had forgotten what it felt like to be held captive under Lucas Scott's gaze.

It was late that night when Payton, Brooke and Alexis walked back into the hotel room. Lexie was sleeping so Brooke laid her gently on the bed being extra careful not to wake her. After how she had cried all night last night Brooke didn't want risk disturbing her. She tip toed into Payton's adjoining room and flopped down onto the bed with a sigh.

"You gonna to tell me what's going on with you and Luke?" Payton's voice was soft with just the slightest hint of an accusation. Brooke's blood ran cold.

"What are you talking about P. Sawyer?" Brooke laughed trying to lighten the seriousness of the her friends question.

"I'm talking about how weird way you two were acting tonight at Nathan and Haley's."

"Oh he was just coping with the fact that I have a baby girl that he didn't know about before now."

"Yeah he looked like someone kicked him when he first saw her." She said lifting her eyes from the sketch pad in front of her.

Brooke stood up and stretched, "Payton did you really come back here to get back to music?"

"Yeah, I did I miss it Brooke."

"I was hoping you'd say that because I have something for you." She walked into her room and returned a few seconds later with a check in her hand. "I want to make an investment into something that I believe in with all my heart. I want you to open your own label."

"Brooke I can't take this."

"Sure you can, consider it payment for your sketches from so long ago…with interest."

"This is crazy; I could suck at this and lose all your money."

"Payton! You're not going to fail; you're going to be great. I know or I wouldn't be doing this."

"I love you Brooke Davis, you know that?"

"I certainly hope so!" Brooke laughed, and then almost came out of her skin when her cell phone rang. Payton was closer to it, and grabbed the phone silencing it before it woke Alexis up.

"It's Luke" Payton's voice was flat as she handed the phone over to Brooke.

"Hey Luke hold on a second." Brooke put her hand on Payton's arm. "Are you ok?"

"Yeah sure" she forced a smile.

"Ok, I'm going to take this outside so that I don't wake up Lexie." Brooke squeezed her friends arm, the last thing she wanted was to hurt Payton any more than she'd already been hurt. Which was why she had to make sure that no one ever found out about who Lexie's father was or even that he had been there to see her.

"Hey, sorry I had to get Payton to listen out for Alexis, she's sleeping."

Brooke…is she mines, you had better tell me the truth. I mean the timing works out for when we…."

"Luke stop, she's not yours; I got pregnant after you were there." Another lie, she hadn't even looked at another guy since him, she couldn't it felt like she would be betraying him somehow.

"So are you still with him? Is he in Lexie's life?"

"No he can't be, it's complicated Luke, and it being just us was mostly my choice, it's better this way."

"Why didn't you call, I would have been there for you Brooke. It breaks my heart that you went through this all alone."

"I'm a big girl, and besides it's not that bad, your mom did it. I mean yeah it's hard but that's the biggest reason I came back, so that we would be with family. The other reason I came back is in there watching Lexie, you wanna tell me what's up with you guys?"

"Nothing's up with us, it took me a long to time to heal from Payton saying no, but I found Lindsey and she's great I can't wait for you to meet her Brooke."

"Sounds great. Oh by the way Payton's going to be opening up her own label, I gave her the check to get started today and I was thinking do you think that your mom would rent us the space above Tric?"

"I don't see why not, I will talk to her about it the next time she calls. Does Payton know your asking me about that space?"

"No and she doesn't need to until we know for sure so just keep it between us for now."

"yeah I guess we're getting pretty good at keeping secrets huh Brooke?"

"About that, she doesn't know you saw me, no reason to tell her it would only end up hurting her and honestly Luke I need her right now more than ever. It's all in the past so let's just leave it like that."

"You do remember this is Tree Hill right? Nothing ever stays secret here."

"Well this has to, Payton can't take another betrayal. Anyways I was wondering do you have Jakes phone number still?"

"Yeah I talked to him just the other day actually."

"Think you could call him up and get him here, Sawyer's birthday is in like a week I was thinking it would be nice to see if the two of them still connect the way they used to." There was a silence and for a second Brooke thought that maybe he would refuse, maybe she was wrong maybe he did still love Payton. Either way it would work to her advantage, Jake and Payton would hit it off again or Luke would get so jelous that he wouldn't be able to deny his feelings any more.

"That's a great idea, he was just telling me how much he missed everyone, and I'm pretty sure he's single."

"Great thanks Luke and listen if he needs anything just let me know I will write you a check to help get him here."

"It ok Brooke I'll take care of it, so are we going to surprise her?"

"Definitely!"

Luke laughed at her enthusiasm "Sounds like a plan I will call him tomorrow, and we can use Tric for the party location if you want to."

"Ok yay that will be perfect"

"I love your big heart Brooke Davis." His words took her by surprise and for a second she wasn't sure she would be able to answer.

"Thanks Luke, listen I better go, let me know what he says tomorrow ok."

"Yeah I will, ok well goodnight."

"Night"

Brooke ended the call and let her body slide down the wall to the floor a sob rising up in her throat. What was she thinking she couldn't do this, why had she ever thought she could move back here? But it was too late now she couldn't go back to New York where Victoria was not the way she had left things. No this was home and she would just have to make it work. Luke was with Lindsey and hopefully soon Payton would be with Jake and things would settle down and get back to normal, whatever that was.

Brooke dried her face and crept back into the room everything was dark and both Payton and Alexis seemed to be asleep. She quietly changed and slid into bed next to her daughter need desperately to sleep, but one thing Lucas had said kept haunting her. Things never stayed secret in Tree Hill….


	3. Chapter 3

"Aunt Brooke!" Jamie leapt from his stool into Brookes arms. "Where's Lexie?"

"Hey buddy, Lexie is bonding with Aunt Peyton this morning." Brooke set the little boy back onto the floor. "Where's your momma?"

"She's upstairs, MOMMA! Aunt Brooke is looking for you."

Haley breezed wearing a sundress with her hair pulled back, "Hey girlie where's Lexie?"

Brooke laughed, "wow a girl could get a complex around here, Peyton's watching her, you got a minute?"

"Yeah, I kinda wanted to talk to you too, what's up?"

"Well Peyton's birthday is next week and I talked to Luke last night, we thought that we should throw her a party at Tric, what do you think?"

"Sounds like a great idea, Brooke, I know Peyton is having a hard time being back here with Luke dating Lindsey and all so I think it would be good for us all to get together and just hang out."

"Yeah and about that being hard thing, Luke's also going to track down Jake Jegalski to see if he might be interested in coming back to see our dear Peyton." Brooke smiled mischievously "so we're going to keep it all a secret."

"Wow sounds like you two have all of this planned out, what do you need me for?"

"The usual grown up party planning stuff." Brooke laughed at Haley's look.

"Hey Jamie why don't you go out back and play while Aunt Brooke and I talk for a while, ok?"

Brooke bent over until she was eye level with her godson and held up a twenty dollar bill between her fingers with raised eyebrows.

"Sweet!" Jamie grabbed the bill and jumped down from the stool.

"Brooke" Haley chastised.

"It's ok Hales its his bribe so that I can go ahead and arrange his and Lexie's marriage, I'm trying to save them the heartache."

"Jamie's almost five years older than Alexis, besides they have to find love on their own."

"Ha you are forgetting whose daughter she is." Brooke didn't realize as she said it that she was opening the door to Haley's next question.

"Speaking of whose daughter she is, Brooke she looks an awful lot like Luke did when we were little."

"Yeah so does Jamie what's your point Haley?"

"Brooke I'm serious, Lucas told me about going to see you the day after Peyton turned down his proposal, the timeline adds up right…." Haley trailed off cocking her head to the side in her typical 'I already know so you might as well tell me' Haley look.

Brooke crossed her arms across her chest and looked off to the side.

"Oh Brooke why didn't you tell Luke, he doesn't know dose he?"

"No" Brooke's answer was barely above a whisper.

"Why, why wouldn't you tell him? It's Luke; he's the second most wonderful guy I know, he would want to be there to be in Alexis' life."

"Because, it was easier to just do it all alone to keep her all to myself. I wanted to prove that I was better than Victoria, that I could be a better mother than she was. Besides now he's with Lindsey and telling him would make it seem like I'm just trying to break them up, wouldn't it?"

"You have to tell him he has a right to know, he's not going to take her away from you, and you are a wonderful mother Brooke, but you can't let your daughter grow up not knowing that Lucas is her father. Eventually she is going to start asking questions and I know that you don't want to lie to her but the longer you wait the worse it will be on everyone."

"How can I tell him now? Luke might be a good guy but he will be so angry about this."

"Yeah he's probably gonna be pissed but he'll get over it eventually and as far as him and Lindsey they will work through this, obviously it happened before they got together."

"He might but do you think Peyton ever will?"

Haley drew in a deep breath and shook her head, "I honestly don't know, but there are bigger things here than Peyton. How was she when she found out about Lindsey?"

"Numb I think, she mentioned it when I first got here but other than that she keeps saying she didn't come back here for Luke."

"So is that the reason you and Luke schemed this plan to bring Jake back here? You know maybe she needs someone new."

"Jake is the only guy that I know of who could distract her from Luke for any amount of time, you know she ran off to Savannah to see him right before you and Nate got re-married, she was set to stay there with him for good but he sent her home to Luke because she was telling him she loved him in her sleep."

"Wow no I didn't know that, where was I at? Oh yeah I was getting married and worrying about how to tell Nathan I was pregnant with Jamie." Haley laughed.

"Yeah so anyways, please don't say anything to anyone yet, please Hales?" Brooke held her breath for a second the look on her friends face said that she wasn't going to keep this secret.

"Alright Brooke but you have to promise that you will tell him sooner rather than later, ok?"

"I promise thank you Haley, you know you are the only person other than me that knows who Lexie's father is?"

"Let's change that soon ok, and if you need me in any way just say so Brooke, I've missed you girlie."

"I've missed you too Haley Thank you for this."

Haley pulled her friend into a hug, "Ok so let's plan this surprise party."

"Yeah because the part is going to be Friday I think, and Luke is checking with is mom about renting the space above Tric to Peyton so that she can open her own label, she doesn't know about that either by the way."

"Wow you are just full of surprises today."

Brooke just smiled glad that they had changed the subject from her and Luke.

"Hey why don't we invite everyone over here tonight for dinner that way we could all spend some time together and just hang out?"

"Sounds good to me, I will go give Lexie her nap and then we can come back here and I can help you cook."

"Ok, I will to the store while you're gone and give everyone a call to let them know."

"See you soon Tutor Girl." Brooke grinned over her shoulder as she breezed out the door.

"Hey Peyt, you here?" Brooke closed the door to her hotel room behind her.

"Shhh, we are napping." Peyton's whispered answer came from the bed in the center of the room.

"You got her to sleep without me, wow Peyt you want a job?" Brooked whispered. "Come on we can leave her in here while we go into your side and talk."

Peyton slipped off the bed quietly and followed Brooke through the adjoining door to her room. "What's up?"

"I talked to Haley and we decided that it would be fun to get everyone together and hang out for a while, so when Alexis wakes up I'm going to go back over there and help her cook dinner, you coming right?"

"Yeah I don't know about you cooking but with Haley's help surely you won't kill us." Brooke raised an eyebrow, I remember you being right there beside me when we were trying to bake those cookies."

"Yeah but I'm not offering to cook for all of our friends." Peyton laughed dodging Brookes swat.

"You will be eating your words later tonight missy." Brooke wagged a finger under Peyton's nose.

Both girls covered their mouths trying to smother their laughter so they wouldn't wake Alexis.

Peyton jumped up from the bed, "ok well since you volunteered me for this dinner cooking I guess I'd better go take a shower and make myself presentable."

"Please do you are pretty skanky looking."

"You're pushing it B. Davis!" Peyton laughed as she closed the door to the bathroom.

Brooke flopped back on the bed and for a second let her mind wonder to what tonight might bring, if Lucas would be there and if her heart would still ache seeing him…

No she had to stop no reason to go down that road again it would only make it harder to keep everything tightly wrapped up.

Two hours later the two girls and baby Alexis were in the car driving to towards Nathan and Haley's house. "So who all is coming to this dinner party? Wow that makes me sound really grown up, 'dinner party' weird huh?"

Brooke laughed, "Yeah we are getting old aren't we? But I think that the usual group is coming, Mouth, Skills, Luke and Lindsey."

"Luke's girlfriend?"

"Yep Haley says that she's really nice so it will be good to try and get to know her, sounds like he's really serious about their relationship."

"I guess you're right." The tone of Peyton's voice said more than her words did, and Brooke cut her eyes over at the blonde sitting in the passenger seat.

"Are you alright with her being there?"

"Well yeah of course I am, he can date whoever he wants, we have been over a long time."

Brooke didn't dare glance at her friend this time she didn't want to risk her being able to read the longing in her own eyes.

"Alright kiddos we are here" She announced attempting to sound cheerful, but I wouldn't have mattered Peyton was still very wrapped up in her own thoughts and memories.

Brooke parked the car and lifted Alexis out of her seat while Peyton got the bags from the grocery store they'd picked up on their way.

"Aunt Brooke, Aunt Peyton you're here" Jamie came flying out the front door towards the car.

""Hey little man" Brooke ruffled his blonde hair thinking back on what she and Haley had talked about earlier that day. Jamie and Alexis could be siblings; it was a little creepy how much they looked alike.

"Hey could you help Aunt Peyton with the bags please?"

"Sure" He bounced over to Peyton's side and took several of the lighter bags from her hands.

"Thanks cutie" Peyton's smile almost broke Brooke's heart she knew that tonight was going to be really hard on her.

"Hey guys, just come on in." Haley yelled from the kitchen as they came in the front door and followed Jamie through the house. The tree of them dropped everything on the table and Brooke shifted Lexie to her other hip.

"Ok Hales put us to work, what can I do?"

For the next couple of hours the three girls worked in the kitchen laughing and talking, just enjoying the time catching up on each other's lives. Brooke and Haley swapped stories of the crazy events of motherhood. Peyton told them of the trials of trying to work her way up in the music production industry. It was like the four years apart just washed away and they were right back to where they'd left off after graduation.

"Hales, we're home" Nathan's voice called from the front of the house.

"Uncle Lucas!" Jamie jumped up from where he'd been coloring quietly at the table, Haley just rolled her eyes and shrugged her shoulders.

"What can I say the boy loves his uncle." Brooke and Peyton laughed along with her.

"Hey Babe, it actually smells good in here you must not have let Peyton and Brooke touch anything." Nathan slipped his arms around Haley and kissed her lightly.

"Jamie Scott you better come save your Daddy cause I'm about to kill him!" Peyton yelled and made a flying leap for Nathan who darted and ran from the room. Peyton chased with Jamie following closely on her heels.

"Just a normal day at the Scott house" Haley commented and calmly went back to her pot on the stove.

Brooke shook her head in amazement and turned to check on Lexie who was playing quietly on a blanket on the floor. She wasn't at all prepared for what she saw when she turn though. Lucas was on his knees on the floor, hands held out towards Alexis who was using them to pull herself up to a standing position. Her big blue eyes glued to Luke's, it was obvious that she trusted him completely to support her and not let her fall. For a second Brooke physically couldn't draw a breath, a had went unconsciously to her mouth. She fought hard for control over the emotions that watching the two of them together was dragging up. Sensing her watching him Lucas looked up at her, an expression of wonder coloring his features. Brooke couldn't move, couldn't speak, she was frozen in place.

Alexis let out a squeal drawing Luke's attention back to her, she was determined to stand up with is help and was letting him know that she didn't appreciate the break in concentration.

"Ok ok I get it you want to walk." He laughed understanding the tiny reprimand.

"Brooke watched as her daughter pulled her tiny little legs under her and worked to get a balance, she was so pleased with herself.

"It melts your heart doesn't it?" Brooke jumped as Haley spoke.

"Yeah, it does" She could barely force the words out at a whisper. Haley patted her on the shoulder knowing all the things that Brooke was struggling with, and then turn to go make sure that Peyton wasn't making good on her threat on Nathan, and give the tree of them a few moments alone.

"Look at her Brooke, she wants to walk" Lucas' voice was filled with amazement.

"I see her" Brooke forced a smile but no longer able to hold back the tears as she watched her sweet baby take her first steps with the help of her Daddy.

"Good job sweetheart" Luke lifted her lightly into his arms.

"Hey what's wrong?" his eyes darkened with concern when he turned and noticed her wet cheeks.

"Nothing, nothing at all" Brooke reached up and brushed a curl out of Lexie's face, and he gaze settled on Luke's face. "Um Lucas we should…"

"Hey anyone home?" Brooke jumped at the sound of an unfamiliar voice.

"Hey Linds were in the kitchen" Luke handed Alexis to Brooke and went to meet Lindsey.

Brooke stood alone in the kitchen for a moment trying to catch her breath, what had she almost done? She had almost let everything that she'd work so hard to build be torn away in a brief moment of weakness. What was happening to her, she had never been weak and this was no time to start.

"Hey what's wrong?" Peyton walked up beside her and slipped an arm around her shoulders.

"Nothing I'm fine, Lexie just tried to walk for the first time."

"Wow that's great little girlie" Peyton cooed.

They turned at Nathan and Haley returned followed by Lucas who was hold the hand of a tall beautiful blonde. "Guys this is Lindsey"

Brooke pasted a smile on her face and stepped in front of Peyton trying to shield her and give her a few seconds to recover. "Hi Lindsey I'm Brooke and this is Alexis my daughter."

"Nice to meet you" She looked over Brooke's shoulder, "and You must be Peyton. I feel like I already know you both from editing Luke's book." Her smile was warm and genuine; she seemed to be sweet, but suddenly the room felt very small and an uncomfortable silence fell over the room. It was going to be a long night.


	4. Chapter 4

_**This chapter is a lot shorter than what I try to write but I took so long last time to post that I figured I should hurry up a little this time. And as for the last chapter I'm so sorry that it took sooooo long for me to update. I will do my best to be better about posting from now on. I also know that there are a lot of mistakes in the last chapter but like I said I was rushing it. Thank you for all the reviews and story alerts you guys are amazing! I hope that you enjoy this chapter as much as the others as always please review it helps me to write faster....all you writers out there know this is true :) **_

Brooke laid Lexie down gently on the bed in Nathan and Haley's spare bedroom, for a moment she just stood there watching the little girl sleep, peacefully unaware of the tension downstairs around the table. Brooke knew that Haley bless her heart was trying to keep the mood light and conversation moving, but Peyton was silent and withdrawn and Brooke was just barely holding it together herself after that light episode in the kitchen right before Lindsey showed up.

Taking a deep breath she turned and slipped quietly from the room the sooner she got back in there and finished dinner and dessert the sooner she could pack up Alexis and Peyton and hide in the safety of their hotel room.

Pasting on a smile Brooke breezed back into the dining room, "Sorry about that she is worn out from all the activities today."

"Well now that you're back we have an announcement, well two announcements actually." Lucas reached and joined his hand with Lindsey's on the table. Brooke could feel the blood drain from her head and she quickly sat down before her knees could buckle under her. Oh please don't say you're pregnant…please Luke. Brooke silently pleaded, not that it would matter at this point, what was done was done.

"We got a phone call yesterday, there's a movie producer that wants to turn _Raven's _into a movie." Luke turned and looked at Lindsey and smiled.

"Wow Luke that's great!" Haley jump from her chair and went around the table to throw her arms around him. Lucas stood and wrapped his arms around her waist, "Thanks Hales we are excited, but there's more." He turned again and looked down at Lindsey lovingly.

"Lucas asked me to marry him!" Lindsey held up her left hand showing off a gleaming diamond ring, with a huge grin lighting up her face.

"Oh my God, Luke!" Haley hugged him again and then moved around to hug his fiancé. As Nathan stood to congratulate his brother Brooke kicked Peyton under the table. She looked up sharply and gave her a stern look that said she'd better put on a smile and pretend to be happy for her ex.

"Congratulations Luke, on the engagement and the movie." Peyton had forced a smile and an awkward embrace.

Brooke could hear the strain in her best friend's voice when she spoke to Lucas. Suddenly all of the promises that she had made to Haley earlier about telling Luke that he was Lexie's father seemed beyond impossible. She couldn't not now, he was about to marry Lindsey and Peyton was obviously still deeply in love with him. It would break her heart again to know that Brooke had not only betrayed her but got pregnant as well. No things were better left untold, for everyone's sake. Surely Haley would agree now in light of all of this.

Instincts kicked in as she looked across the table into Lindsey's sparkling eyes, there was no doubt about it the girl was head over hills for their Lucas Scott. Brooke reached over and took the girls left hand so that she could examine the ring.

"Lindsey it's beautiful!" She gushed appropriately, but as she looked a little more closely Brooke noticed that there was something very familiar about that ring. Her gaze came up sharply to find Luke watching her reaction. His head tipped to the left slightly, and she knew that he could tell she recognized it. Of course she did, she had flaunted the same one all over New York that night. The night right after he'd used it to purpose to Peyton and she'd said no.

Brooke gently buckled Alexis into her seat in the car, it had been a long night and she didn't want to be sitting up the rest of it with a fussing baby. Peyton was already in the front waiting, she looked like a zombie, completely drained from the last few hours. What started out as a relaxing fun dinner had turned into a very stressful evening. When Brooke closed the door and turn to get in the driver's seat she saw Nathan coming towards her from the front of the house.

"Hey you forgot this, might be a long night without it." He held up Lexie's soft pink blanket.

"Oh thanks Nathan" Brooke met him halfway to get the item.

"Hey Brooke, Haley told me about you and Luke and Alexis and all…" He trailed off when Brooke turn to look at the car to make sure that Peyton was still closed up inside.

"Nathan, I know that I promised her I would talk to Luke but now that he's getting married and with Peyton…I just can't I think it's better for everyone if it just stays between us. Ok?"

"I don't know, I think he should know he has a child. Look at what it was like for him with Dan, he doesn't want that for his kid so he would be really mad and eventually its going to come out, if not now than later and it will be worse then. Trust me Brooke he's going to want to know about this."

"I'll think about it, but thanks for keeping it a secret. I love you guys." She reached and hugged him.

"Goodnight Nathan"

"Night Brooke"

"Are you alright sweetie?" Brooke walked over to the chair that Peyton was sitting in staring out the window.

"mmhm" Peyton turned and looked up trying to smile through the pain.

"Talk to me Peyton, I know tonight was hard for you."

"It was hard Brooke but not for all the reasons you think." She paused looking out the window again, "I chose wrong, and now I'm afraid that I can never undo it."

Brooke put a hand on Peyton's shoulder and squeezed lightly, she understood, too well she understood.

_**Ok so here's the deal I need a vote, who should we bring in for Peyton? Jake or Julian? Let me know quickly so I can work it into the next chapter.....**_


	5. Chapter 5

**Ok Ok I know that I am the worst about updating, but honestly I write as much and as fast as I can. I'm trying to keep up with school and I've been picking up extra shifts at work. I know its just a lot of lame excuses and Im sorry. There arent words to express my thanks to all the loyal readers who put up with me and my being so slow at this. THANK YOU!!! YOU are why I keep pushing thank you for all of the awesome reviews, I have tried to make the corrections that have been mentioned and if you read any new ones in this chapter please let me know. Again thank you for reading and as always I hope you enjoy :) **

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"Isn't this the most wonderful house you've ever seen?" Brooke ran a hand along the banister as she spoke to the smiling baby in the stroller. She had just bought the beautiful two story house fully furnished including the roast the previous owner had baking in the over. Brooke had, had all she could take of the tiny hotel room. Since she planned to make hers and Alexis' life here in Tree Hill there was no reason not to go ahead and purchase a home for them to live in. This was the perfect house, it had four bedrooms two full bathrooms upstairs and a half bath on the first floor under the stairs. There were a few decorating things she would change and of course she would need to go out and buy things for Lexie's room. This was going to be so much fun, she thought smiling.

Her phone ringing brought her out of the day dream, "Hey, Peyt, guess what"

"I don't know tell me" Peyton laughed through the phone.

"I bought us a house!"

"You did what?!" Peyton's voice had lost its humor and had been replaced with shock.

"Yeah, so come by and pick out your room."

"So wait you bought a house… just now… and you want me to move in with you?"

"Well of course I do we are living together in that teeny hotel room, this house in incredible, I cant wait for you to see it so hurry up and then we can go shopping." Brooke's words came out all in a rush of excitement.

"Ok I'm on my way." Brook gave her friend the directions to the new house and hung up to make a list of the things she wanted to get when they went shopping.

"Don't you just love it?" Brooke flung the door open before Peyton even reached it. The tall blonde's eyes grew wide as she looked around, taking in the beautiful house.

"Brooke is great, but I'm not working, I cant even help pay rent or anything."

"No worries, I bought it so there is no rent, and I have a feeling that a job offer will come along in the very near future. Besides I wrote the check out of the business account, Victoria will flip when it clears, that alone makes it worth it. Come on blondie let me show you the best part." Brooke grabbed Peyton's arm and dragged her out to the back of the house that opened up to glass French doors and a long balcony porch with an amazing view of the beach.

"You always did love the beach huh Brooke Davis?" Peyton quipped with a half grin. "I love it! And as soon as I start working somewhere I will help out with bills and stuff." She added, obviously feeling guilty for living off her friend.

"Don't you even worry about all that, we have much more important things to do right now, like shopping; there are so many things we need." Brooke practically bounced back into the house with Alexis on her hip and for a second Peyton just stood there. Everything seemed to be falling into place, well almost everything anyways, now if she could just get _him_ out of her heart or her head or wherever he was haunting her from.

"Peyton come on girlie let's go!" Brooke startled her from her thoughts.

"I'm coming." She took a deep breath clearing the cobwebs from her brain and followed Brooke back through the house out to her SUV.

"Brooke the house is furnished, what do we need to buy?" Peyton buckled her seatbelt.

"We need to get the things for Alexis' room, you know baby furniture and all, and then also I want new curtains the ones there are like prehistoric." Brooke rolled her eyes in disgust , making Peyton laugh.

Peyton had forgotten what shopping with Brooke Davis was like, there was no item to expensive and no such thing as extravagant. If Brooke liked it Brooke bought it, in no time Peyton's head was spinning, she had lost all track of what they were taking home and what was being delivered later on that afternoon. They had everything from towels to curtains to new pots and pans. Everything they could think of.

"Um Brooke I think we should stop now, or else you may have to get a second house to put it all in." She pulled dramatically on her friends arm

"Ok ok I know I just want to find a cute little purple monkey like I used to have, I don't know what happened to mine but I want Alexis to have one."

"Alright Brooke let's go find a purple monkey" Peyton linked her arm through Brookes.

After another hour of searching with no luck the two girls gave up, apparently there were no purple monkeys to be had in Tree Hill.

"Poor thing is exhausted" Brooke laid Alexis gently down in her new crib, the delivery guys had just left after setting up all of her furniture and arranging and rearranging until Brooke was happy.

"You never cease to amaze me at how easily you can perform mind control over men and make them do exactly what you want. And they have no idea its happening." Peyton said propped against the doorframe of Lexie's room.

Brooke quirked and eyebrow, "I never use my powers for evil" Peyton threw a hand over her mouth to cover the burst of laughter, and the two girls made their way back into the living room where it looked like a department store had exploded.

"Wow we have a mess in here, and I'm starving! Let's order pizza." Peyton pulled her cell from her pocket.

"Sounds good to me, I'm famished" Brooke answered digging into the bags on the couch.

A few minutes later Peyton came back into the room, "Pizza's all ordered, I guess I could help you put all this mess away." She said with fake sarcasm.

The two girls had worked quietly for nearly an hour when the doorbell rang. Peyton jumped up from her spot on the floor and grabbed her wallet on the way to answer the door.

"I don't even remember how much the girl told me…" her voice trailed off as she opened the door.

"Hi Peyton" the man standing in front of her was not the pizza delivery boy. At the sound of an unfamiliar male voice address her friend by name Brooke came to investigate. Peyton was standing with her mouth hanging open almost as wide as the front door.

"Peyton aren't you going to invite your friend inside?" Brooke nudge her friend with her hip trying to bring her back to reality.

"No!" Suddenly the door slammed closed and Peyton retreated without explanation back into the living room.

"Peyton…." Brooke watched as she walked away and then reopened the door. "Hi I'm sorry I don't know what's gotten into her, I'm Brooke"

"Hi Brooke, I'm Julian, and I know exactly what's gotten into her. Just tell her I'm staying at the Hotel downtown and to please call me."

The tall stranger with light brown hair and green eyes turned and walked confidently back down the front walk. "Oh and tell her I'm not giving up this time." His smile was enough to give Brooke that weak knee's sensation that she hadn't felt since… well in a long time. She watched from the door until he got in his car and drove away. Peyton Sawyer had a LOT of explaining to do!

"Peyton you want to tell me who that was and why you slammed the door in his face?"

Brooke sat down on the couch next to the blonde who seemed like she was trying to curl into herself with that famous Payton Sawyer, "I'm shutting out the world" look. Brooke had never backed down when Peyton would react this was and she wasn't about to start now. This guy obviously meant something or he wouldn't have elicited this kind of reaction out of her friend.

"Peyton please talk to me." Brooke placed an arm around the girl's rounded shoulders.

"He left, he just walked out the door got on that plane and left! _And_ the minute that he got there he hooked up with some chick, it was all over the news. Until today I haven't heard from him in months!"

"That's it? There wasn't an argument he just left?"

"He saw that I was taking Raven's to read….again, on the plane, and he accused me of still being in love with Lucas. He would listen to anything I said. I loved him Brooke I honestly did and he just walked out."

Brooke could understand why a guy might be threatened by Lucas Scott and his book in Peyton's life but now wasn't the time to tell Peyton that. "I'm sorry Peyt. He told me to tell you he was stay downtown, he also said that he wasn't giving up this time, sounds like he realized he was wrong."

She sat up and brushed the tears from under her eyes, "I trusted him with my heart Brooke, that's not an easy thing for me to do."

"I know but he seemed like he meant what he said. Could it hurt to talk to him try and work things out hear his side and tell him yours?"

"I don't know, I'm not sure I can do that. I'm so sick of getting hurt, of being left."

Peyton you are so much stronger than that, besides it might do you good to have some closure, or he might even surprise you."

"I'll think about it." The doorbell rang "I'm not going to the door again!"

Brooke laughed, "No worries, I'll get it this time." She paid the delivery guy and carried the pizza's back into the living room. Peyton was still sitting on the couch staring off into space.

"Ok the food's finally here, let's eat!" She said deciding that it was time to let the previous conversation go for now. Peyton would work it all out and they would talk about it again.

"I'm coming Lex, I'm coming. Mommies just trying to get her eyes open." She and Peyton had stayed up way to late last night and now she was paying for it.

"He sweetie, did you sleep well in your new bed?" Brooke lifted the baby from her new elaborate crib and laid her down on the matching changing table. "Let's get all dressed and then I will get us some breakfast. Alexis just smiled and cooed at her mother.

After breakfast Lexie was in her bouncer seat and Brooke was putting the last of the stuff away that was lying around the living room trying to put the finishing touches on cleaning up. She couldn't help but think back to the guy from last night….seemed like there might be more to the story than what Peyton was saying but then that didn't really surprise her. It also made her second guess having Lucas call and invite Jake to come up for the party this weekend. Although maybe Peyton just needed a little help making a move.

"That's it my little angel we will invite both of them and see what happens, she will have to talk to at least one of them." Brooke rubbed her nose against Lexie's getting a giggle in response.


	6. Chapter 6

I know it takes me forever to update, but thank you to all my faithful readers! You guys are awesome! I hope you enjoy this chapter! Please be patient with Brooke and Lucas I PROMISE I will get to them but I just don't feel like after all that they went through that has to happen will happen over night. I don't want to rush them, I feel like that would ruin their characters.

Oh yeah I always forget.....I do not own any of the characters this is completely my own imagination of how things _might _have been.

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The phone began to ring just as Lexie started to cry, a quick glance at the caller ID told Brooke that the call was from Lucas. She picked up Alexis and cuddled her close as she answered the phone.

"Hey Luke what's up?" She tried to sound light hearted even though talking to him made her knees go weak.

"Hey I was just calling to see how things were going, see if there was anything else I can do to help with the party?"

"Oh no I think we have everything ready. I'm meeting Haley at Tric this afternoon to do some decorating."

"Yeah I talked with Mom about all of it and she's very excited about Peyton opening her label there. She even had someone over there yesterday to clean up."

"Yay that's so awesome Luke, your Mom is amazing!"

"Yeah she's pretty great. Hey is everything ok?" He could hear Lexie crying off an on throughout their conversation

"Alexis has just been having a bad day, I think she is teething, or something. But she hasn't been sleeping much at night either so Mommy's exhausted."

"If there's anything I can do I'm here for you Brooke, all you have to do is ask."

"Thanks Luke, it would be a big help if you want to meet me and Haley after lunch at Tric?"

"Sure of course, I'll meet you guys there."

"Ok thanks again Lucas, bye." Brooke slipped the phone into the diaper bag, "alright pretty girl let's get you changed and ready to meet Aunt Haley for lunch." At the sound of her old nickname Brooke's smile faded just a little. This really had to stop, Lucas was happy, she had made her choice a long time ago. It was time to be happy. She got Lexie dressed and and left a note for Peyton saying she would be gone for the afternoon and they left.

"Alexis cried the whole way here so they may end up throwing us out of here if she keeps it up." Brooke greeted Haley as she lifted the baby seat out of the SUV.

"I'm sure she will be fine, she just needs to see her Aunt Haley." She cooed into the baby carrier. Lexie responded with a smile as if to say that was all she'd been fussing about all along. Both girls laughed and made their way inside the little diner and found a table. Brooke propped Lexie's seat up on the end of the table against the wall so that she could look around and maybe she would continue to be happy while they ate.

After ordering their food she got a jar of peaches and a tiny spoon out of the diaper bag to feed Lexie while they waited.

"So did Lucas get hold of Jake? Is he coming tomorrow?" Haley leaned across the table in anticipation.

"Yes he did get hold of Jake; Luke said that he and Jenny are driving up sometime tonight."

"Wow and Peyton has no idea that he's coming?"

"Nope, she doesn't know that I invited Julian either." Brooke grinned mysteriously.

"Brooke Davis back to her old tricks."

Well hello again Ms. Davis, funny running into you here."

Brooke looked up into the smiling face of Julian standing at the end of the table.

"Hi Julian, how are you? We were just wondering if you had gotten my invitation to Peyton's party tomorrow night."

"You must be Haley James now Scott, famous singer/songwriter turned wife and mother." He said ignoring the question in Brooke's statement.

"Wow you know more about me than I do." Haley laughed.

"Sorry I'm not a stalker I'm a producer and I've reading Lucas' book a few times so I feel like I know all of you guess." Julian back peddled.

"Oh wow a Producer, Peyton didn't mention that the other night." Brooke commented thoughtfully.

"So are you going to come tomorrow and actually meet everyone from the book?" Haley asked brightly.

"You know I haven't decided yet, I might." He avoided committing.

"Well hopefully we will see you there." Haley smiled up at him.

"Have a nice day ladies." Julian smiled and said as he turned and walked back to the counter.

"Hmm he's cute." Haley whispered, "so what happened with him and Peyton anyway?"

"Luke's book, it kept coming between them apparently. I guess she kept reading it repeatedly and eventually he accused her of still being in love with Lucas and left. But it looks like he has had a change of heart and is here to win her back, said he wasn't giving up on her this time."

"You think she's going to take him back or do you think she still after Luke?"

"I don't know but I think the Lucas train has left the station, he seems to be happy with Lindsey. But then again this is Peyton, and we all know how that can turn out."

"True but then there's the other stuff…." Haley let her voice trail off with the insinuating comment.

"Haley we are not talking about this again, things are good right now I'm not going to turn everyone's world upside down."

"Ok, ok I understand, but Brooke I still think he needs to know."

"Right so new subject, did you get the stuff to decorate at Tric?" Brooke not so subtlety redirected the conversation.

The girls finished their lunch talking about the party decorations and Brooke told Haley about how she was going to invest in Peyton's new label that would be located above Tric, if Peyton agreed that is.

"Oh yeah Luke's going to meet us there to help decorate too." Brooke explained as she buckled Alexis' seat back into the SUV

"Good I haven't seen much of him lately."

As soon as Brooke closed the door Alexis began to cry. "Good thing it's just a few minutes over to Tric from here." She said wearily. Haley just smiled in sympathy for her friend as she got into her own car.

When they pulled into the parking lot Luke was standing propped against his car waiting for them.

"Ok that ten minute drive felt more like ten hours! She screamed the entire way here!" Brooke ran her hands through her short auburn hair in frustration. At Lucas' laugh she groaned and turned to lean her forehead against the window.

"Here let me get her for a little while, why don't you rest for a few minutes."

"Thanks Luke, I don't know what's going on with her. I thought kids didn't start hating their parents until they were teenagers." She replied jamming her hands on her hips as Alexis cuddled against Luke's shoulder and quieted immediately.

"Brooke she doesn't hate you, it's just like you said she having a bad day."

"Yeah well it's been more like a bad week! I don't get it she never used to fuss like this before. I promise, she's always been a really good baby."

"She's still a good baby and you're a great mom! Come on let's go inside and get this done. I think a nap might do both of you some good." Lucas slung his free arm around her shoulders and guided them towards the door.

"Thanks Luke." Brooke put her arm around his waist, enjoying having someone to lean on physically and emotionally, even if it was just for a few minutes.

When they made their way inside and climbed the stairs to the area above the club Haley was already laying out the decorations she had brought. Brooke avoided making eye contact with her knowing what she would see if she did.

After a few minutes of organizing Brooke and Haley got to work putting out votive candles and setting up the rest of the stuff. They stepped back to look at the whole picture and Haley elbowed Brooke and nodded towards the far corner. "Tell me you can see that and still feel like you are doing the right thing denying him his daughter?"

"Haley!"

"What he's sleeping." Lucas had fallen asleep in a chair with Alexis out cold on his chest.

"There's no easy way to fix this Haley but I'm trying to do what's right for everyone."

"Hey guys it looks great, sorry I dozed off after she fell asleep."

"Oh it's fine, here you want me to take her?" Brooke said hurrying over to take the baby.

"No no she's fine no need to risk waking her up."

"Um ok thanks." Brooke wrung her hands nervously.

"Well guys I should get home Jamie will be there soon." Haley gently hugged Lucas careful not to wake Lexie up.

"Bye Hales I'll see you later." Lucas whispered.

"Bye Haley thanks for all your help." Brooke wrapped her arms around her friend.

"Please Brooke; be honest with yourself and him." Haley said quietly in Brooke's ear.

"Why don't I follow you over to your house and watch this little one so you can lay down and rest for a while?" Lucas said noticing how tired she looked.

"Lucas you don't have to do that."

"I know but I want to, we're friends Brooke, that's what friends do for one another. Ok?"

Brooke had to admit she was worn out; a nap would be almost like heaven, "Ok thank you that would be really nice."

When they got back to the house Peyton still wasn't home and Lucas wouldn't even let Brooke get Alexis out of the car. He sent her inside and strait to bed, promising to wake her up if he needed anything.

Brooke fell asleep the minute her head hit the pillow and didn't wake up until she heard Lucas softly saying her name.

"Hey, what's wrong?" Brooke said trying to sit up.

"No everything is fine, Alexis is fed diapered and in bed for the night. I just wanted you to know I am headed home to deal with Lindsey."

"Oh Luke I'm sorry she's probably not very happy at you being gone all day."

"Don't you worry about that she will cheer up when she sees how much I got written today." He smile and for a second they both just sat there. "Ok well go back to sleep ok everything's fine. I will give you a call tomorrow." He leaned forward and kissed the top of her head and then was gone. Brooke lay there listening until she heard his car crank and back out of the driveway. What was going on here, did Lucas suspect something? Was that why he was going out of his way to be helpful? Surely he would have said something, asked her, right? Brooke lay there in the dark for a long time letting her mind wonder to how things might have been if she'd told him from the start. Eventually she drifted back to sleep only to wake up a short time later by Lexie crying through the baby monitor. It was going to be another long night.

"Peyton, you have to come with us, it's going to be fun, I promise." Lexie was crying again and Peyton was being broody. The surprise party was in just a couple of hours Brooke needed to get ready to go but she had to convince the sulking blonde to get ready too.

"Alright I'm pulling the sympathy card, the last few days have sucked Peyton, I _need_ this, please come out with me and Haley and Nathan." Brooke pleaded one last time.

"What are you going to do with Lexie and her overly healthy set of lungs?" Peyton asked sarcastically.

"Haley is leaving Jamie with Deb and she said she would keep Alexis too."

"Deb huh? You really must be desperate to get out of here for a while! Ok I'll go but I make no promises of having fun." Peyton wagged her finger in front of Brookes face.

"Fine as long as you're coming! Now let's hurry and get ready so we can drop her off at Nathan and Haley's on the way."

Brooke was almost ready to drop by the time she and Peyton were backing out of Nathan and Haley's driveway. She was a little nervous about leaving her sweet little baby with Crazy-Nanny-Deb but Haley trusted her so everything should be ok.

"So we're meeting them here?" Peyton asked as they parked at Tric.

"Yeah, she said something about meeting upstairs; guess they've done some renovations while we were gone." Brooke answered mysteriously.

"This should be interesting." Peyton said not knowing just how true her statement was.

Brooke trailed along behind letting the birthday girl lead the way up the back stairs, hoping everyone was ready, she'd texted Haley when they got there but hadn't gotten a response back.

"Surprise!" Rang put loud and clear the moment the door opened causing the blonde to stop in her tracks.

Haley ran up to hug her, "Happy birthday girlie."

"Thank you; did you plan all of this?" She asked gesturing to the party.

"Well actually it was Brooke; I just helped with the manual labor."

"Brooke wow, now I understand why you were so persistent to get me out of the house tonight." She laughed as she hugged her friend.

"Yeah, well come on, there are presents!" Brooke laughed pulling her into the room, anxious to give Peyton her gift. She stopped short when she spotted Lucas and Lindsey who were obviously in the middle of a heated argument. Lindsey saw Brooke and Peyton and turn to face Lucas again and raised her eyebrows, "make a choice Lucas, I can't keep doing this."

"That's not fair Lindsey, they are my friends, you can't ask me to choose between you and them they are like my family."

"No Luke they are your ex's!" She was nearly yelling now. "But that tells me you've made your choice, goodbye Lucas." And with that she turned and walked away, for a second the entire room seemed to hold its collective breath, waiting to see if he would follow her.

He didn't.

Instead he walked over to where Brooke and Peyton were still standing trying to bring their chins up off the floor.

"Happy birthday Peyton." He wrapped a casual arm around her shoulders, acting as if none of what just occurred had just happened.

"Thanks Luke, is um …is everything ok?" Peyton looked as awkward as she sounded.

"Yeah don't worry about that, tonight's your birthday party."

"So Lucas, I'm too excited to wait let's give Peyton her presents." Brooke finally found her voice.

"Well Peyton, Brooke and I were talking about things and then I called my mom and well, here." He held out a plain white envelope. Peyton reached out and took it looking very confused, it a moment for her to read over the papers inside. Her eyes grew wide in shock as she realized what they were giving her.

"This, your giving me the space above Tric, it's too much I can't accept this." Peyton looked between Brooke and Lucas.

"Well it's already in your name, Mom signed the papers yesterday and her lawyer faxed them to me this morning. Although I believe Brooke has the terms and conditions for what you do with it."

"That's right missy, you have to take this place and start your own label, where you call all the shots and make your dream come true without the compromise." Brooke handed her a check.

"Brooke that's a lot of money, I can't take that!"

"It's just to get started, call it payment for all your art work I "stole" for COB back in high school."

"You both are incredible; I don't know what to say."

"Just say that you will do it." Brooke said grinning

"Ok I will, thank you, both of you so much this is so amazing." Peyton threw her arms around Brooke.

"You're welcome Peyt, but um hey let's talk later ok have fun." Lucas gave Peyton a quick hug and then headed off towards where Nathan was standing talking to a few of their old classmates.

"Brooke there aren't words to thank you!"

"Stop it, we came back here to start over I wanted to be able to help you live your dream the way to always wanted, the way I'm living mine." Brooke insisted as they walked over to where Haley was standing.

"So did they tell you?" Haley asked excitedly.

"They did, and I was wondering Ms. Scott…..have you been writing lately?" Haley laughed walked away mumbling something about not going down that road again, and Peyton stayed right on her heels. Brooke smiled it was nice to see her friend genuinely happy again, and she was glad that she got to be a part of it. Now to check on her other friend…where had Lucas gone off? Looking around she couldn't find him, maybe he had followed Lindsey home to work things out with her.

"Well you clean up rather nice Ms. Davis" Brooke turned around to find Julian standing behind her.

"Hey I'm glad you could make it." She smiled up at him.

"What are you doing here?!" An angry Peyton had walked up behind Brooke.

"Hi Peyton, happy birthday."

"No, no you don't get to tell me happy birthday. You shouldn't even be here Julian!" With that she turned and ran back down the stairs.

"Peyton, wait…." Brooke started to follow but Julian stopped her with a hand on her arm.

"I'll go; she and I need to talk anyway." He calmly followed her out the way she'd just gone.

Julian found Peyton standing just outside the front door propped against the building. She saw him come through the door and pushed herself off the wall.

"Why did you come here? Why couldn't you just stay gone?" Peyton had her arms crossed protectively across her body, hiding the hurt behind her anger.

"I'm sorry Peyton, I'm sorry I hurt you. I'm here to make it up to you; I'm not giving up on us this time. I love you Peyton." He moved so that he was standing in front of her and put his hands on her arms.

"That wasn't enough for you before why should I trust you this time?" She pulled away from him and walked a farther away from him, but he could tell she was fighting tears.

"I read Lucas' book…." He let the sentence trail off when she turned away from him trying in vain to keep him from see how much she was hurting. Julian crossed over to stand behind her and tried to turn her to face him but Peyton resisted so he leaned do until his lips were right next to her ear. The scent of her caused his head to spin.

"I love you Peyton, reading his book gave me a deeper insight into you and how you think and feel. And what makes you react the way you do, it showed me all of the things I was doing wrong. I saw how walking out on you that day was the worst thing I could have ever done to you, and I'm sorry Peyton. I'm so, so sorry." He just kept whispering over and over how sorry he was and how much he loved her, until she let him put his arms around her. Finally he could feel the tension and some of the anger leave her body and she let him turn her around in his arms.

She still wouldn't meet his eyes, so he tipped her chin up with his finger, "I want to love you the way need to be loved, the way you deserve to be loved and treated. I want to make you feel needed and safe and whole. Will you let me try again? Will you trust me with your heart again Peyton?"

Tears fell unheeded down her cheeks and dripped from her chin. Julian was sure he'd won her over but he heard a noise behind him and the spell was broken and she drew away quickly instead of kissing him she said another man's name.

"Jake"

* * *

**Ok so what do you think? I'm still torn and not totally sure who I want to put her with....if I want her to be with either one of them. I have always felt like Peyton defined herself by who she was "in love" with so we will see how it all turns out. The next chapter will begin the events that will reveal Brooke's secret. So my question now is....realistically knowing Luke's personality how would he respond to finding out hes a father and that Brooke, the woman he _might_ still love? Review review review I cant wait to hear your thoughts on it........**


	7. Chapter 7

**Ok so I worked really hard on this chapter because I didn't want to lose the momentum I had going so there are probably some mistakes. I hope that you guys like how things go here, this whole chapter is completely BRUCAS ****. Enjoy let me know what you think as always, review review review ! Sorry it's a little shorter than I normally try to keep them but it just felt like a natural end.**

**And Of course I do not own any part of OTH or the characters. **

"Hi Peyton, sorry I didn't mean to interrupt." Jake said softly.

"No you didn't we were done here." Peyton turned without looking at Julian and went back inside. The two guys stood for a moment in an awkward silence; Jake finally just turned and followed Peyton inside.

"Was this just a set up? Just trying to make me crazy?!" Peyton ran smack into Lucas.

"Whoa slow down, what are you talking about?" Luke put his hands on her shoulders.

"I'm talking about you inviting Jake and Brooke inviting Julian!" She knew she was yelling but at this point she was so upset she didn't care.

"Wait whose Julian?" Lucas asked confused.

"Um that would be me." A male voice came from over her shoulder.

Peyton dried her face with her hands, Luke this is Julian, Julian this is Lucas Scott….the author."

Julian extended his hand, "It's really great to meet you finally."

"Peyton are you ok?" Jake asked, he'd been standing off to the side un-noticed.

Peyton faked a smile, "Hey Jake, I'm sorry, yeah I'm fine." She walked over and hugged him, "how are you? It's been a long time."

"Yeah it has." Jake grinned and stuck his hands deep into the pockets of his jeans. For a second Peyton was seventeen again back in Karen's Café, the lyrics to the first song she'd even heard him sing played in her ears…

_Such a lonely boy_

_Such a lonely girl_

_Couldn't find the joy within_

_Suck a lonely girl_

_Such a lonely world were livin' in_

_I watch it all go by_

_I can't find a tear to cry…._

It was the first time she had truly looked at Jake Jegielski and seen him for who he really was.

"So um you guys want to come inside, Haley sent me out here to find you they are ready to cut cake?"

"Yeah come on Peyton, there's a cake in there with your name on it." Jake took her hand, not in a pushy romantic way but because he knew that she needed to draw on his strength to go back in there and endure the rest of this party. Peyton smiled and allowed him to lead her back up the stairs. No one really noticed that Julian had disappeared back out the front door.

"Well I have to say that this party didn't turn out exactly the way I'd planned" Brooke mumbled under breath as she looked around the now dark and empty room.

"Hey Pretty Girl, I found your coat." Brooke turned to face him shocked; she hadn't heard him call her that in a very long time. "Uh I'm sorry Brooke…." Lucas had taken her shocked expression as one of anger.

"No big deal, what girl doesn't like to be complimented?" Brooke laughed it off trying to lessen the awkwardness.

"Yeah" Luke smiled, "You ready to go?" Peyton had gotten Haley and Nathan to drop her off on their way home.

"More than ready let's go." Brooke led the way out to her car.

For the first few minutes they rode in silence, but Brooke was still concerned over the scene from earlier.

"Luke is everything ok…um with Lindsey?" It took him so long to answer that for a second Brooke thought that maybe he wasn't going to.

"Things have been…a little…rough lately." He finally admits with a sigh.

"You'll work it all out, I mean you guys love each other, you're going to get married." She smiled at him until she realized that wasn't looking at her he was studying the buildings going by out the window.

"I don't know Brooke, I'm not sure that we can get over this. I don't want you to take this the wrong way, I'm so glad that you and Peyton and Lexie are back here now …where you belong, all of us together. But Lindsey is very insecure, and after editing my book she knows everything about our past, the dark and ugly, and the good and happy stuff. She read in great detail how much I cared for y… for all of you guys. Therefore, you being here…it is as if she's having to face it all as a reality and not just a story I wrote. The fact that I'm able to write again after so long doesn't help actually either.

"Oh Luke I'm sorry, I never meant to cause you trouble. I don't what I was thinking; I never should have encouraged Peyton to move back here with me." She said as the stopped at a red light.

"Brooke you didn't hear anything I just said, you all are my family, even Peyton with all the issues and hurt she brings along, you are my life and I won't sacrifice my family for any woman. I would never ask her to give up her family or friends, so it's not right for her to ask that of me."

Brooke turns to face him, her voice just barely above a whisper "Lucas if things are like this then why ask her to marry you?"

"I do love her and I think I could spend the rest of my life with her, but I hadn't planned to ask her. She found Keith's ring in my drawer, we'd just had this huge fight and she said she was leaving and started dumping stuff into a suitcase and there it was. She thought it was for her, I never told her about asking Peyton to marry me. So instead of making a bad fight worse I just got down on one knee, but looking back I think I should have just told her the truth. Things are only getting worse now.

Brooke reached across and put her hand over his, neither of them saw the traffic light changed to green."Oh Luke, she deserves to know the truth, and you have to be sure, getting married won't magically fix things. You always try so hard to be exactly what everyone else needs you to be and that's what makes you, you. But Luke you can't have a marriage like that because eventually it's not going to be enough and you'll look up and realize that you've lost yourself in the process" her voice thick with emotion.

"Sounds like someone else I know." He squeezed her fingers.

"You're right and it took me a long time to figure out who I was again, it's part of the reason I'm back here. But Lucas if it would make things better for you I will pack up tomorrow and move us all back to New York."

"That's the last thing I want Brooke, my life is better when you're in it." Brooke dropped her eyes, she couldn't keep looking at him, he was saying all the right things like always. But she couldn't be having these feeling for him again, not like this. It would inevitably cause her more pain and she had sworn she wouldn't go back to living like that again. The light changed to red again and Brooke realized that they had been sitting there for a long time.

"Hey, you ok? I'm sorry Brooke I didn't mean to hurt you or make you think I don't want you here. I just…."

"No, no its fine I understand where you are coming from, I'm glad that you feel like you can talk to me still." She was gripping the steering wheel so tight that her knuckles had turned white but she flashed Lucas a reassuring smile. This time when the light changed she drove through the intersection and for the rest of the drive to his house they were quiet.

When they stopped in front of his house Lucas turned to face her, "Brooke tell me what happened after we met in New York, why did you stop taking my phone calls?"

"Luke…"

"No really Brooke please don't brush me off, were friends and I see you in New York and things are good. We spend one night together and then you basically vanish. Suddenly a year later you show back up in Tree Hill with a daughter and…and all this pain in your eyes again…that wasn't there when I saw you last...but you won't talk to me about any of it. Don't cut me out again Brooke, please." He knew he sounded angry but he wasn't he was frustrated, she would never understand how much he cared about her.

Brooke ducked her chin; he could be so right and yet so clueless all at the same time! There he was sitting there watching still waiting for an answer. Waiting for her to explain all that had taken place over the last eighteen months. She wanted to scream at him that the only man who had ever really broken her heart was him; that she would have gladly given up anything to be with him, but he had chosen Peyton and then come running to her to ease his pain. A night that only confirmed that all she ever was to him was someone to help him heal, he didn't really love her, and he never had. In the process though he had given her the most precious gift, her sweet Alexis was his daughter, his own flesh and blood!

Instead she buried all of that deep down into that neat little box and said, "It's not like that Lucas, I'm fine, everything is fine. One day I promise I will explain it all but I'm just not ready yet. As hard as she had fought to control her emotions the tears still tried to escape. Luke reached up a finger and stroked her cheek causing the first one to drop.

"What happened to us Brooke, how did we end up here?"

For a moment Brooke flashed back to the stage at Tric, the night they'd put on Haley and Nathan's play….

"_**Way to go with the tears P. Sawyer, you brought down the house!"**_

_**Peyton started to cry again, "Brooke, I think I still have feelings for Lucas."**_

"_**You mean you care for him as a friend….."**_

_**Peyton shakes her head sadly, "No. I mean more than that."**_

"It was just never meant to be I guess." She reached up and took his hand in hers again and slowly moved it away from her face, "But Lucas we cannot keep trying to relive it, it's just a dead end and it's…painful…for ...me." She stumbled over the last part.

"You're right, I'm sorry" He smiled sadly and moved to open the door. "I never meant to hurt you Brooke, not back then not now, not ever. He turned then and got out of the SUV without looking back because if he had he would have seen the tears rolling down Brookes cheeks in full force now.


End file.
